CHECHNYA: RUSSIA/CHECHNYA CONFLICT WRAP

(17 Dec 1999) Russian/Nat

The Russian military on Friday launched a three-pronged attack on Grozny in an apparent attempt to test the strength of the rebel defences in the Chechen capital.

The Russians sent armoured vehicles towards Grozny, with the apparent intent of drawing fire from the well-entrenched rebels in order to find out where they are located and how much firepower they have.

Earlier in the day, a pro-Moscow rebel leader announced his troops would be spearhead an assault on Grozny.

Russian warplanes and artillery struck Grozny on Friday, as they had for weeks.

On the ground, the Russian army regrouped its forces.

In an apparent attempt at finding where the entrenched rebels are hiding, the military sent armoured motorcades towards Grozny to draw rebel fire.

Russian armoured groups also fired on the city from the east, the south and the northwest, with the crackle of gunfire and the echo of explosions heard throughout Grozny.

Generals have said repeatedly that they will not storm Grozny, and Friday's attack did not appear to be an all-out assault.

However, the Russians did encircle Grozny and skirmished with militants on the fringes of the city.

The soldiers were in fighting spirit.

SOUNDBITE( Russian)
"If we are to let this gang remain at large and Russia to withdraw its forces with terrorists running free, tomorrow they will capture Ingushetia and then move on Russia... The spirit of the Russian Army is very high these days."
SUPER CAPTION Yuri, Russian officer

And they're ready for revenge.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"If our army got involved then we must win. That is the only way - the last time we had to retreat in shame, so now we need a victory and victory only."
SUPER CAPTION: Dmitry, officer

The Russians' persistence and determination is taking a heavy toll on the ordinary citizens who remain in Grozny.

SOUNDBITE ( Russian)
"It is not war, it's sheer horror. During the war in 1994 they (the Russian soldiers) did not kill or steal. But they are doing so now."
SUPER CAPTION: Saida, refugee from Chechnya

Since Russian troops began their offensive in Chechnya in September, most of the republic's refugees have fled west to the neighbouring Russian region of Ingushetia.

In all, nearly 250-thousand Chechens have fled their territory.

Also on Friday, a pro-Moscow rebel commander announced that his troops would be spearheading an assault on Grozny.

Beslan Gantamirov claims to have up to 15-hundred men under his command.

He says that compared to the Russian forces, his native Chechens are better placed to deal with the Islamist rebels who still control up to 40 percent of Chechnya, mostly in the southern mountains.

Gantamirov also denied that more than 100 Russian soldiers were killed in a ferocious Wednesday night battle in Grozny's Minutka Square.

The battle appeared to be the worst defeat the Russian military has suffered since its forces entered Chechnya in September to try to restore Moscow's control over the province.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"The Russian troops never entered Grozny. They blocked the approaches to the Sunzha river. It is nothing else but lies that the federal forces sustained heavy losses in Grozny."
SUPER CAPTION: Beslan Gantamirov, pro-Moscow rebel commander

Russian generals have insisted for weeks that they will not mount a major ground attack on Grozny because they want to avoid the kind of heavy losses the army suffered in the city during the war which ended in Russian defeat in 1996.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
SUPER CAPTION: Fatima, Refugee from Grozny
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